Two quick stories

Anndra said her first spontaneous & sincere "Thank you" today. She says it all the time, but usually after being prompted or after receiving a treat or something. It's not as much about genuine gratitude as it is about knowing that's what she's supposed to say.

This morning she got her little fingers caught in the VCR. She's usually really good about leaving that type of equipment alone, but I think she was trying to see if there was a video inside. She called out: "Mom, I stuck!" So I came over and pushed the little door up so she could pull her fingers out.

She looked at me with this expression in her eyes like I had just saved her life. She threw her arms around me and murmured a very enthusiastic "Thank you!" It completely melted me. Not because she said thank you without being prompted - she's done that several times before just out of habit - but because she was truly glad I helped her and wanted to express it.

A moment to remember.

***********

Lincoln sits on the back of my bike when I ride with Parker and our neighbors to school each morning. Today I wore pants with no pockets so I asked Lincoln to hold the garage door opener until we got back home. I told him he must hold onto it tightly so that it wouldn't fall and must not push the buttons until I said he could (talk about a test of self-control for a 3-year-old, right?). He did a great job and I think he enjoyed the sense of responsibility.

Then this afternoon my neighbor (who usually rides her bike to the school to pick up the kids) called to say she had to work late. So I grabbed the garage door opener and hurried to lift Lincoln up into his seat. In all this rushing about, the opener slipped from my grasp and fell to the ground.

As I struggled with Lincoln's buckles, I heard him say in a very serious voice: "Uh oh, Mom. You dropped the clicker. That means you are in BIG trouble!" It made me laugh so hard inside that he could assume that I would 'get in trouble' for something like that! I had to resist uttering a flippant remark like "Oh really... what do you think is going to happen to me?"

Life with young children is never boring.